Life With The Crew

February Beginnings

February started with the slight tease of Spring, and after frigid single digits, I felt guilty still feeling cold at "just freezing".  But then the rain changed to ice and the season meter was pushed firmly back to "Winter".  

I'm okay with that.  There are still audiobooks to listen to ("King of the Wind" by Marguerite Henry), books to read (The  Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson), and knitting projects.  My sidekick has been knitting a pink blanket for her kitten.  She first tried knitting when she was 8, which is an age that I had heard kids could pick it up.  She learned the knitting motion and was able to make several small squares, but only this winter (age 9), did it really click.  She has been knitting for an hour a day and asked to learn how to purl also.  I love seeing her sitting by the fire, listening to an audio, and knitting away on this blanket for her beloved Tiny Tim.  (And he had better appreciate all the hours and love she is putting into it!)

We have been hearing Great Horned owls calling in the early evening, as early as 6pm.  In Winters past, I have heard them in the middle of the night while my daughter was sleeping, so it was nice to be able to share it with her now.  This is the time period when they are choosing mates, so I've often heard one voice calling and then another answer from farther away.  I'm so glad that even in the suburbs, wildlife has figured out how to thrive around us.

On the knitting front, this wonderfully soft wool shawl with a lace pattern along the bottom is listed in my shop.  I just LOVE the color and would like it to find a home so I am not tempted to wear it!

My October

MY OCTOBER:

-Bouquets of blooming dahlias

-Flying geese on a mission

-Monarchs saying goodbye

-White Wood asters topped with buzzing bees

-Dancing rainbow colored leaves

-Fuzzy furry muddy horses

-Pumpkins picked from our own backyard patch

-Red raspberries ripening before the first frost

-A little girl saying goodbye to eight and hello to nine

And knitting this sweet custom baby blanket.  This is one of the first items that I sold through my Etsy shop and last month, the customer reached out to me saying that the blanket had been destroyed.  The blanket's owner had really loved it and so she wanted to order a replacement.  

And now we are entering the spooky season and the woodstove season.  It isn't fired up yet - we always like to see how long we can hold out.  Nights have only been in the high 40's, so not quite yet...

A September Friday

September is here!  We had a free Friday morning and so we hit the trails (on our bikes instead of on horseback).  After a quick stop at the park, we headed into the gamelands and had them all to ourselves (I love when school is back in session!)  We have been having a very wet end of summer, so the forest is covered with mushrooms and the mosquitoes are horrible.  I mean really horrible!  Our snack break was cut short because taking a bite and slapping mosquitoes was no fun, so we just kept moving.  Other than that, it was a great ride!  Blue skies and some interesting nature finds.  The fungus is white coral fungus - there were many clumps of it growing out of the ground in several areas.  

I've been stocking up my Etsy shop in preparation for the wooly weather season.  If you're in the market for a new wool or alpaca wrap either for yourself or a gift, please stop by!  I also have several smaller baby blankets in both wool and cotton.  

Have a happy weekend! 

 

The Warmth Returns

End of April.  Tomorrow is a new month, one in which the sandals come out, the winter coats can be put away, and the woodstove should go into Summer hibernation.  The first month of Spring is still rather cold and potentially snowy here, April is everything getting green and the early flowers starting - bulbs, Bleeding Hearts, Forget-me-nots, Brunnera (Siberian Bugloss - a favorite of mine), azaleas, dandelions!  May is when the sun feels like it is hear to stay for a while.

My latest shawl is a blend for Summer - 100% organic cotton and Merino wool.  And for the babies, I have a sunny golden yellow smaller baby blanket.

Happy May everyone!

And Then There's Green!

This week has definitely felt Spring-y!  Lots of yard work was done to spruce up our Airbnbs, some pansies were bought for a bit of color, and yesterday I decided to clean up my main flower bed even though my back wanted a rest.  Glad I did, because last night we had an unexpected thunderstorm and now this morning the sun is shining bright and illuminating all of the florescent green tips.  The garlic is growing, the Hellebores are pink and blooming, and the new garlic chives are telling me its time to cut down the old stalks.  I think the seed heads are so beautiful, so I leave them up all winter.  

In the woods this week, we saw a Mourning Clock butterfly - that was a first for us!  We heard Spring Peepers and Wood frogs and spotted the first Wood frog eggs.  We have been seeing muskrats, a Great Blue heron, Mallards, Canada Geese, and Wood ducks at a marshy wetland on the way to the barn.  It is always exciting to see the male Wood ducks with their rainbow of colors.

And in our own yard, the chickens have taken over.  With the loss of our prey-driven Corgi, Ruby, over the winter, we now only have Lola, the 16 year old Corgi who has always been more interested in the chicken poop, than the chicken, and Wallace, our Romanian rescue who isn't prey driven either.  Last year, one of our chickens was being picked on by the other two and so we had to segregate her in chicken isolation.  After her head feathers grew back (her supposed friends had pecked her head until it bled), she still chose to be the loner and she started hopping the fence.  Even though Ruby was old and slower, she still would go after the chicken, so we didn't encourage the chicken's free roaming ways.  During the snowy winter, she kept close to the coop, but just in the past two weeks, she started hopping the fence again - that whole grass is greener thing.  Well, then we noticed one day that there were two chickens in the yard for short periods of time.  Then this week, we decided, "Why not?"  It is pretty fun to see them in the yard - we'll be reading on the sofa and all of a sudden this black streak will shoot across the yard or approach the back door.  We do get regular visits from a Cooper's hawk in our yard, but these ladies are big enough to be left alone.  And the Red-tailed hawks in our neighborhood have never shown interest in our chickens.  We still have two bantams that are locked up in an Eglu because they would definitely make a tasty hawk lunch!

I'll leave you with a little more green.  This small baby blanket/play mat was knit with 100% wool in "Grass" green.  Happy Spring!

Pretty in Pink

Happy Friday morning everyone!  As I write this, the world outside is filled with green - grass, leaves, bushes, trees, ferns - a sea of green!  The red and gray squirrels have been squabbling at the feeder.  My daughter has been birding in the backyard and saw a Common Yellowthroat warbler - I'm so proud that she can accurately identify birds (and gets excited about it!)  The woodstove sat idle for two days, but was brought back into action last night and I am wearing my alpaca sweater.  I just finished listing my newest knitting project in my Etsy shop.  It is a pretty pink cardigan for toddler girls, size 2T-3T.  It is made with O-Wool's organic cotton and organic merino wool yarn, which I just love!  

And here is another dose of pink - the first Pink Lady's Slipper orchid that we found in the woods this week.  Have a great weekend!

May Beginnings

May has come in with frosty mornings, not with flowers.  The chicken water bowl had a thin skim of ice on Wednesday; tonight there is the threat of snow.  The horses are in the barn today, contentedly munching hay, out of the constant cold drizzle.  The woodstove fan is now whirring; Rainbow Valley, one of the continuations in the Anne of Green Gables series, is playing on audio.  I have a new cardigan for women in the Etsy shop (check out the listing to see the lace back!) and have a little wee one for babies on the needles now.  

The weekend weather doesn't sound too May-like either, but it will come.  I have potato leaves poking up, so that means that not all were stolen by marauders.  The garden is filled with tiny little sprouts; I can now see them without leaning over and squinting.  We spotted a Baltimore Oriole the other day, so I immediately sent my husband to the store for oranges - Orioles are supposed to love fruit.  So now in the world of vibrant green outside our window, there are strange striking glimpses of vivid orange, but so far no Orioles.  I looked in my bird record book and last year I spotted an Oriole in our yard on May 3; this year it was the 6th.  Both years, the large apple tree in the neighbors yard was in full bloom with white blossoms and that is where I saw the bird for the first time.

Whatever the weather, wherever you are, I hope that you find some joy this weekend.

 

Two New Things

I have been knitting like crazy lately, but not for myself.  There will soon be a new member in the family - the furry family that is.  As of April 1st, we will be the proud owners of a furry white/muddy pony named Kermit.  He has very kind eyes, is steady and stable, and will be the perfect match for my not so little babe to grow up with.  

Good ponies aren't free and money trees don't grow in Pennsylvania, so that is why I have begun selling my knitted items on Etsy.  My newest listing is for a 100% wool baby blanket in a pretty coral pink color with white picot trim.  The blanket is the perfect size for a baby stroller or carrier.  

The first of March is here, but it isn't quite Spring yet and it doesn't feel like it considering that this was one of our coldest weekends of the whole Winter.  But the light is longer and stronger and we know by the flurry of shedding pony hair that Spring will be here soon.

My Etsy Shop:  Warm in Wool Designs

A Bright Yellow "Chickadee" Shawl for Sale

My knitted item stack is getting pretty high in my closet and I would like to find a new home for some items.  I made this shawl with Quince & Co.'s 100% wool Chickadee yarn in a pretty butter yellow.  It is a small shawl, it works well worn bandana style around the neck.  The measurements are about 46" across and about 20" from the top to bottom point.  There are four "stripes" across the bottom.  While it is wool, it is a soft DK weight yarn, and it is slightly stretchy and a good medium weight for Spring and Fall.  It has been lightly worn.  There are no stains or tears.  We are a smoke free home.  

Asking $15 plus shipping.  Please email me at lifewiththecrew@gmail.com if interested.

A Spring Sweater for Sale

This open front cardigan is knit with 100% alpaca in a lovely moss green color - just the color for Spring!  It has the feather and fan lace pattern on the cuffs and hem.  The sleeves are 3/4 length with a slight bell shape.  I knit the light worsted weight alpaca on size 10 1/2 needles, so it is an open stockinette stitch (note that you can see the stripes of my shirt through it).  The front of the cardigan drapes to the sides.  For sizing, I am about 120 lbs, 5'5" with a size 34B bust.  The cardigan fits comfortably on my arms with a form fitting shirt underneath.  It would probably be a size Small, but on the smaller side of small!  It would fit a petite person with a smaller bust very nicely.

If you are interested in purchasing it or have any questions about it, please email me at lifewiththecrew@gmail.com.  The price is $60 plus shipping.